Swiss researchers have studied the consequences of interactions on the brain. Like cats, dogs can have a beneficial effect on our morale.
Pets can lift our spirits, confirms a study from the University of Basel. These Swiss researchers studied what happens in our brain when we pet a dog. To measure this brain activity, researchers equipped around twenty volunteers with sensors that could measure the activity of the prefrontal cortex of the brain, the area that regulates social and emotional interactions.
They asked these volunteers to pet either dogs or stuffed animals of the same size. These stuffed animals were then heated from the inside by a hot water bottle so that the contact was close to that of a living animal. At times, the caresses were done without looking at the dog or the stuffed animal and at other times the volunteers had to combine touch and eye contact.
Emotional areas of the brain
In both cases, contact with the dog or the stuffed animal brings well-being which activates the emotional areas of the brain. Furthermore, and this is measured objectively, brain activity is more intense when participants caress the real dog. This effect lasts longer.
These results, published in the very serious journal Plos One complement other work which has already demonstrated that interacting with a dog, when things go well and one is not afraid of it, reduces blood pressure, heart rate, and the level in saliva , cortisol, which is a stress hormone.
The effect on the brain is similar to what happens with a cat. A few years ago, Japanese researchers came to the same conclusion. Contact with a real cat improves mood more than stroking its stuffed imitation. Especially since a living cat, which purrs, emits low frequencies, which soothe the body. However, dogs are more commonly used in therapy. This new study, the researchers believe, should make it possible to improve their use, particularly to improve emotional disorders, but also attention and motivation disorders.